Kelleys Island spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

01

Swell & wave memory

Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.

02

Wind & gusts

Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.

03

Tides — none here

The Great Lakes are fresh water: there is no tide, so this factor never moves the verdict. The level is pushed around by wind setup and seiche instead.

04

Water temperature

Lake surface temperature from NOAA GLERL's GLSEA daily composite, not an ocean model — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.

05

Currents & outflow

Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.

06

Rain runoff & air clarity

Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.

07

Coast shape & exposure

How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

• Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
• An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
• Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
• Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
• Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.